Earth Day Recap: Milwaukee Riverkeeper Annual Cleanup
Happy Earth Day!
I joined the community yesterday to participate in Milwaukee Riverkeeper’s 28th Annual Spring Cleanup. It was my second year participating in this incredible citywide event. I joined residents at the West Basin site last year; head to my recent post for more on the West Basin project and the surrounding region that’s prioritizing stormwater management in historically disinvested neighborhoods.
The following day, Riverkeeper reported this year’s impact: 4,600 volunteers collected “well over” 100,000 pounds of trash from 98 sites. I saw several massive piles of trash bags sitting on curbs and waiting for pickup throughout the city after the cleanup, which only shows the incredible community — and of course, environmental — impact this annual cleanup has on the city. So, I’m gathering that the vague “well over” qualifier was the most reasonable way to quantify this huge success.
As for quantities at the site I helped clean — the Emmber Bridge Boatyard along the Menomonee River — volunteers counted a whopping 191 large bags of trash. I focused on the area along the railroad track, about a quarter mile from the river. Despite not being exactly next to the water, it was an extremely neglected area with so much trash that would very easily make its way to the river over time.
I had several observations that I’d like to share more about in future writings:
A majority of the trash had clearly blown over from Milwaukee Recycles (IRONIC) located across the rail line.
A lot of the trash was already disintegrating and seeping into the earth, especially the plastic grocery bags and styrofoam that were scattered everywhere.
We covered such a minimal part of the rail line. We could have been out there for literal months and it would have felt pointless (because, see #1).
We came across, what looked like, the garbage-filled living quarters of an unhoused person; this prompted a confusing mental seesaw: respect for the environment versus respect for this person’s home.
All that said, it wasn’t an overall upsetting day. It is always an amazing feeling to make an impact on the planet, even if it feels like a futile pursuit. Every time I picked up a decomposing plastic bag, it would break apart further, which hurt me, as if I was doing more harm than good. But I told myself that the chunk of plastic that I was discarding was larger than the microplastics that had already sunk their claws into the soil.
Also, I stopped by the 12th Annual Rock the Green event at the Harley Davidson Museum. It was a little cleanup "after party" where several environmental organizations served as vendors (many of them with interactive activities) and Milwaukee musicians performed on a pedal-powered stage. The bicyclists providing energy for the music were mostly women also, which made me super happy. It was such a wonderful gathering of Wisconsinites, uniting through their love for Mama Earth!
Here’s a bit more about Riverkeeper:
Milwaukee Riverkeeper is a science-based advocacy organization working for swimmable, fishable rivers throughout the Milwaukee River Basin. Their mission is to protect, improve and advocate for water quality, riparian wildlife habitat, and sound land management in the Milwaukee, Menomonee, and Kinnickinnic River Watersheds.
Every year, Riverkeeper does a river report card that I referenced quite often in my research when developing an environmental arts youth internship program at my previous employer.
Stay aware!
There is also a section on Riverkeeper’s website for reporting pollution in the rivers. I received a saddening email from Riverkeeper a few weeks ago about an oil spill on the Milwaukee River, caused by illegal dumping of an oil/petroleum product. A good reminder from them in the email:
Remember, NOTHING should ever be dumped into a storm drain; most of these drain directly to the river. Old oil and gas products (or any hazardous chemicals) can be dropped off for FREE at hazardous waste collection sites. If you see something, say something! It takes all of us working together to care for our communities and waterways. Please contact WDNR’s Spill Line (1-800-TIP-WDNR) with any tips, and let us know so we can follow up.
There’s definitely a vast misunderstanding around how human actions can impact our bodies of water. Milwaukee has several bodies of water — the three rivers and Lake Michigan, most notably — that are essential to its residents’ health and wellbeing and the city’s economy.
This is the reason why I developed a painted storm drain project, in partnership with several water-focused entities in Milwaukee, in the aforementioned environmental arts program. Head to some previous posts for more about that project and the “why,” and also how Milwaukee rocks with water technology.
Want to support your local bodies of water?
First, read more about stormwater! Here’s what Milwaukee Riverkeeper says about community participation in maintaining the health of Milwaukee’s waterways (and these actions can apply to any location with important bodies of water):
Consider installing a rain barrel or rain garden to catch water where it falls.
Be mindful of road salt usage; excess salt isn’t safer, it actually leads to chloride pollution that harms local rivers.
Compost leaves; decaying leaf litter contributes to phosphorus, which can cause harmful and unsightly algae blooms and poor water quality conditions for aquatic life.
Contact your elected officials to ask for stronger regulations for clean water; consider running for local office and getting engaged in the future of your river community.
This is not an all-inclusive list. There are so many things we can do to protect water. Water is a basic necessity for our survival — remember this the next time you put something down your drain or pass by a storm drain!
